DALLAS (Ticker) -- The Dallas Mavericks look ready for the
playoffs. The Minnesota Timberwolves do not.

Michael Finley scored 24 points to lead six players in double
figures as the Mavericks tuned up for their first playoff berth
in 11 years with a 120-100 victory over the Timberwolves.

Dallas completed a 53-29 campaign -- a 13-game improvement over
last season -- and is in the playoffs for the first time since
1990. The Mavericks are seeded fifth in the Western Conference
and open Saturday at Utah, where they have won twice this
season.

"There are a lot of lessons to start to learn now," Dallas coach
Don Nelson said. "It couldn't happen with a better team because
they are teachers. You have to beat Utah. You have to play
well. You have to find ways to maneuver around all of their
idiosyncrasies. It's going to be veterans playing against
rookies -- very talented rookies, really. It is our first smell
of the playoffs and they have been there so many times. They
are going to have an advantage over us. We are really going to
have to play well."

"I think we match up well with Utah," Finley said. "We've had
some good games against them. More importantly, we've beaten
them. More importantly than that, we've beaten them on their
home court. That's some positives going in for us. We just
have to remember that and go in with that mentality."

Although Nelson played his starters limited minutes, Dallas
still cruised to its fourth straight win. The Mavs shot a
blistering 55 percent (50-of-91) from the field, including
10-of-14 by Finley.

Chinese 7-foot rookie Wang Zhi Zhi scored 13 points in 17
minutes of garbage time. For the second time this season, the
likable giant endeared himself to the Reunion Arena faithful by
making the shot that gave the Mavs 100 points and the fans free
chalupas.

The Timberwolves aren't exactly clicking as they enter the
playoffs for the fifth straight year. On Tuesday, they suffered
their worst loss of the season, a 114-87 setback at Houston.

In this one, they were without superstar forward Kevin Garnett,
who was rested by coach Flip Saunders. But they fell behind,
39-22, after one quarter and never really recovered.

Minnesota (47-35) never has won a playoff series. As the No. 8
seed in the West, it will face top-seeded San Antonio, which
dispatched the Timberwolves in the first round in 1999.

"We had them beat the first time we played down there and the
last time, we missed a free throw with seven seconds to go,"
Saunders said. "We are looking forward to going down there and
playing against them. We're very familiar with them. It's a
great rivalry, it's one of our biggest rivalries."

"Someone asked me the other day how we felt being the eighth
seed. The eighth seed is just a number," Garnett said. "You
have to show and prove yourself every night no matter what seed
you are. Our confidence is very high because we know we are
capable of doing. We can knock up points with the best of them.
When we execute, we are one of the best teams in the league by
far."

Dirk Nowitzki scored 15 points and Juwan Howard and Steve Nash
added 13 apiece for the Mavs, who led 96-67 after three
quarters.